1 MW solar plant cost: ₹2.40–2.60 crore, engineered honestly
A 1 MW rooftop system in India runs ₹2.40–2.60 crore turnkey — a price of ₹24,000–26,000 per kW, excluding GST — as of 2026, best suited to facilities with ₹10 lakh+/month electricity bills. Here's what that buys, what it generates, and the engineering that changes at this size.
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1 MW plant — the working numbers
| Indicative turnkey cost | ₹2.40–2.60 crore excl. GST |
| Per-kW benchmark | ₹24,000–26,000 excl. GST |
| Roof required | ~1,00,000 sq.ft (≈1 acre of roof) |
| Land, if ground-mounted | ~4 acres (3.5–5) · working |
| Generation (monthly avg.) | ~1.2 lakh units |
| Generation (annual) | ~14.4 lakh units |
| Bill offset potential | ~₹10–11 lakh/month at ₹9/unit |
| Indicative payback | 1.8–2.0 years |
Indicative figures at ~120 units/kW/month, the northern band — Rajasthan and Gujarat run higher, the East and North East lower; pick your region in the solar plant cost calculator for a figure that matches your site. Seasonal variation (including the winter fog dip) is real and belongs in any honest model.
Cost split of a turnkey 1 MW system
| Solar modules (ALMM Tier-1) | 50–58% |
| Inverters & monitoring | 9–12% |
| Mounting structure | 8–11% |
| Cabling, protection & BOS | 10–13% |
| Installation, T&C | 7–10% |
| Approvals, metering & misc. | 2–4% |
A quote materially below the band usually removes scope — structure gauge, protection, or approval liability — rather than adding efficiency. Compare BOQs line by line, or send us one to counter-check.
What the 1 MW price above assumes
A solar cost figure means nothing without the three assumptions underneath it. Quoted ranges differ between sources mostly because these were set differently, not because one supplier is cheaper than another.
You own the plant
Every figure on this page is exclusive of GST, which is charged on top. We quote ex-GST because most C&I buyers are GST-registered and treat the tax separately from project cost — but whether you can offset it as input credit depends on your registration and how the asset is used, so take that one to your tax advisor rather than our word. When you compare quotations, check each one states the same basis: an inclusive and an exclusive quote are not the same number.
₹2.40–2.60 crore is the CAPEX number — you fund it, you own the asset, the generation and the depreciation. Under an OPEX or RESCO arrangement you fund nothing and buy the units at an agreed tariff, which is a different question with a different answer. The ten-year comparison puts both on the same page; the glossary entry is the short version.
It is a rooftop system
Ground-mount is priced differently — land, civil foundations, boundary and the evacuation run are added, while access, cleaning and O&M get easier and cheaper for the life of the plant. On a constrained or fragmented roof the comparison is worth running properly rather than assuming the roof wins because it is free.
Standard-class modules and structure
Module technology and structure specification move you within the band, not out of it. What moves a quote below the band is almost always scope leaving it — structure gauge, protection, monitoring or approval liability. Read the BOQ, not the headline.
The final number comes from a site survey — roof structure and shadow-free area, sanctioned load and transformer headroom, and the state's current net-metering position. Anything quoted before those are known is a starting point for a conversation, not a price.
The engineering story at this size
A megawatt on your own roof is a captive power station — and the first size where the honest answer is sometimes 'don't put it all on the roof.' Banking caps, sanctioned-load ratios and roof fragmentation can favour a hybrid: rooftop captive for the daytime base plus open-access supply for the balance. An EPC that only sells rooftop will never tell you that; our open-access guide is public precisely so the comparison happens before capex, not after.
Grid interconnection
HT interconnection with a full protection study; at this scale several states' banking and capacity rules bite, and the rooftop-vs-open-access comparison becomes a board-level question rather than a footnote.
Inverter architecture
Utility-grade string fleets (15–20 × 60 kW class) or central inverters; DC/AC ratio, MPPT granularity across multiple roof orientations, and O&M access decide the choice more than catalogue efficiency.
Approvals
DISCOM net-metering/captive registration and CEIG approval filed in-house, in parallel with procurement — approvals are our trade, not a subcontracted liaison job. The full scope, stage by stage, is on our solar EPC service page.
⚠ Banking & capacity caps
Several DISCOMs cap net-metered or banked energy at 1 MW or at a percentage of sanctioned load — the single biggest determinant of whether full rooftop capacity monetises. State rules first, design second.
⚠ Roof fragmentation
An acre of roof is usually 4–8 blocks with different heights and orientations — DC architecture, walkways and cleaning access must be designed, not improvised.
⚠ O&M is not optional
At 1 MW, a 2% performance loss is ~₹2.5 lakh/year. Monitoring, cleaning regimes and thermography (see our drone-thermography guide) protect the return.
Module eligibility is a 2026 watch-out of its own: for a net-metered or open-access plant, ALMM List-I applies and the List-II (cell) exemption turns on whether the plant commissions by 31 December 2026 — see the ALMM List-II commissioning guide before fixing a module.
At this size consumption often outgrows the roof: open access solar serves the balance a rooftop cannot, at a landed cost the state's charges decide.
1 MW solar plant — questions we actually get
What does a 1 MW rooftop solar plant cost?
Indicatively ₹2.40–2.60 crore turnkey. At this scale, procurement timing on modules and the HT works scope are the swing factors; per-kW pricing below this band usually signals scope removed, not efficiency added.
1 MW rooftop or open access — which is cheaper?
Rooftop captive avoids wheeling and cross-subsidy charges, so per-unit it usually wins — if your roof, sanctioned load and state rules allow the full megawatt. Where they don't, open access covers the balance. We model both on your bills; the answer is state- and consumer-specific.
How much land-equivalent roof does 1 MW need?
About one lakh sq.ft (~1 acre) of shadow-free roof across your sheds. Ground-mount on spare industrial land is the alternative where roofs fragment badly — see our agrivoltaics/ground-mount guide for when that flips.
What approvals does a 1 MW captive plant need?
DISCOM captive/net-metering registration per state policy, CEIG approval, and synchronisation permission — plus, for some states at this size, additional registration with the state nodal agency. All in-house scope for us; timelines vary by state and we quote them honestly per project.
How much land does a 1 MW solar plant need?
On the ground, about 4 acres, and 3.5–5 acres in practice. The Indian rule of thumb is roughly 4 acres per MW; module efficiency, inter-row spacing and terrain move it. On a roof it is about 1,00,000 sq.ft (≈1 acre of roof). A ground-mounted plant is priced differently from the rooftop band on this page, because land, civil foundations, fencing and the evacuation line are added. The solar plant area calculator shows the working.
Other sizes: 100 kW · 250 kW · 500 kW · 1 MW | Full service: Commercial & Industrial Solar EPC · Solar EPC — scope & approvals
Send last month's electricity bill with your enquiry. Sanctioned load, tariff and actual consumption are all on it — they decide whether a 1 MW plant is the right size for your site, and they are what turns the band above into a number for your roof.
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